Round Robin Episode 1

08Jul

Photo credit: Studio D

Everything was going beautifully last Wednesday before the lights went out. For the first time since Annie died, I let Winston and Terry talk me into going on a blind date. Nothing elaborate, just a drink in Milestones, the bar on the ground level of my condo so I could make a fast escape if it turned out dismal. I was approaching the whole thing more as a chore than a pleasure but I couldn’t see the guys letting go until I bowed to the pressure and gave in.

I should have asked who picked the girl for me. If I’d known it was Winston, I would’ve skipped the meet altogether. But I didn’t know, so I was waiting at a table when she arrived, smiling and wind-blown and stacked just the way I like them. She introduced herself –Riane—and ordered a bone-dry martini. I stuck to scotch. Milestones wasn’t really crowded but there was the buzz of spring in the air and people around were laughing. Riane was easy; easy to talk to, easy to like, and easy on the eyes. I began to relax a little.

I took a sip of scotch, waited for the usual disbelieving reaction. Instead I heard a pop, the lights when out, and my arms were filled with dead female. I couldn’t call her a woman anymore because as she fell into me she changed…